I think an underrated angle to this is the role of assistant coaches, the ones that do the heavy lifting. Bowden's assistants aren't as strong as those of the past, and it reflects poorly on him. He still "has it" as a coach but he needs assistants at the top of the game to excel. A general is still only as good as his officer corps.

To the Tom Landry reference above, this is applicable. The Landry teams of the 1970's had assistants like Dan Reeves, Gene Stallings, Mike Ditka, and Dick Nolan, all of whom became head coaches. In the 1980's, with the likes of Paul Hackett as OC, suddenly the Cowboys weren't as productive and Landry took the blame.

(10-10-2009 09:06 AM)DFW HOYA Wrote:  I think an underrated angle to this is the role of assistant coaches, the ones that do the heavy lifting. Bowden's assistants aren't as strong as those of the past, and it reflects poorly on him. He still "has it" as a coach but he needs assistants at the top of the game to excel. A general is still only as good as his officer corps.

I agree. All the blame goes on the head coach. But more often than not, he's more of a figurehead, except when a decision has to be made...

(10-10-2009 09:06 AM)DFW HOYA Wrote:  To the Tom Landry reference above, this is applicable. The Landry teams of the 1970's had assistants like Dan Reeves, Gene Stallings, Mike Ditka, and Dick Nolan, all of whom became head coaches. In the 1980's, with the likes of Paul Hackett as OC, suddenly the Cowboys weren't as productive and Landry took the blame.

And Jerry Jones came along and bought the Cowboys, promptly firing Landry, and p!ssed off a lot of Cowboy fans - until Jimmy Johnson brought home a Super Bowl win. Had Johnson not done that, they might have lost many fans forever...